High Wind in Alaska, May 15 to 16, 1997

Name: High Wind in Alaska, May 15 to 16, 1997
Start: 1997-05-15T04:00
End: 1997-05-16T23:59
Location: Alaska

May 15 to 16, 1997 · NWS AFC · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

reaching a depth of at least 970 mbs near Adak at 10 am Thursday. The moderate to strong front associated with this low extended in an arc 150 miles north of Adak through the western tip of Umnak Island at 10 am Thursday.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.

A rapidly deepening low moved out of the northcentral Pacific late Wednesday...reaching a depth of at least 970 mbs near Adak at 10 am Thursday. The moderate to strong front associated with this low extended in an arc 150 miles north of Adak through the western tip of Umnak Island at 10 am Thursday. Gale to locally storm force east and southeast winds preceded the front...while southwesterly storm force winds were observed along the south and southwest side of the low. Cold Bay recorded a wind gust of 57 mph at 8:01pm Thursday evening. By Friday morning...the low had moved into the central Bering Sea as the front continued to elongate north and east...through the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and into the upper Alaska Peninsula. Wind gusts reached 43 mph at King Salmon Friday in the frontal area.

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: May 15, 4:00 AM AST to 11:00 PM AST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph)

High Wind, Western Alaska Peninsula

When: May 15, 7:00 AM AST to May 16, 6:00 PM AST
Where: Western Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 49 kt (56 mph)

High Wind, St. Paul Island

When: May 15, 10:00 AM AST to 11:00 PM AST
Where: St. Paul Island forecast zone
Measured: 38 kt (44 mph)

High Wind, Bristol Bay Coastal

When: May 16, 12:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where: Bristol Bay Coastal forecast zone
Measured: 39 kt (45 mph)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5601434, 5601435, 5601436, 5601437.